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Friend of the Shawangunks v. Town of Gardiner Planning Board: Litigation Concerning a Popular Outdoor Recreation Area Prompts the...

OVERVIEW - The Shawangunk Ridge is a cluster of bedrock in upstate New York popular for its scenery and outdoor recreation. The Town of Gardiner’s (“Gardiner”) Shawangunk Ridge Protection District (“SRPD”) protects the...more

Fourth Department Frenzy: Reversionary Zoning, Sewer Agreements, Site Plan Review, and Constitutional Rights

In Riedman Acquisitions, LLC v Town Bd. of Town of Mendon, 194 AD3d 1444, 2021 NY Slip Op 02952 [4th Dept 2021], the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, addressed several significant issues concerning land development...more

Second Department Affirms Limits on Site Plan Determinations

This month, in Gershow Recycling of Riverhead v Town of Riverhead, 2021 NY Slip Op 02156 [2d Dept 2021], the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the motion court’s decision granting an Article 78 petition to annul...more

Farmingdale To Bring Upper Levels to the Ground Floor: Proposed Amendments to Downtown Zoning

Tonight, the Incorporated Village of Farmingdale (“Farmingdale“) will consider amending its zoning code to expand permitted uses in its Downtown Mixed-Use Zoning District (“Downtown“). The proposed amendments will allow,...more

Flag on the Play for Illegal Procedure: Necessary Parties and the Pitfalls of Nonjoinder

Failure to name a necessary party when challenging a land use determination may result in dismissal, and leave a challenger without further recourse. CPLR 1003 provides that the nonjoinder of a party who should be joined...more

“General” Code Provision Saves Dollar Store Endeavor: Superfluous Interpretations Are Not Required

In Cady v Town of Germantown Planning Bd., 2020 NY Slip Op 03440 [3d Dept 2020], the Appellate Division, Third Department, reversed the Columbia County Supreme Court’s judgment annulling site plan approval, and dismissed the...more

How and When to Challenge SEQRA Determinations: Addressing Ripeness and Finality in Article 78 Cases

How and when to challenge multiple municipal actions regarding a single project often perplexes Article 78 litigants. Varying statutes of limitations may apply to actions taken at various stages for one project, and the...more

Court Denies Preliminary Injunction to Enjoin Shinnecock Nation’s Project along Sunrise Highway

Last week, the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, denied an application for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the completion, maintenance and operation of two sixty-foot tall electronic billboard-monuments (“Project”)...more

Zoning Boards May Consider the Proposed Use and Purpose When Deciding Area Variance Applications, But Cannot Forget the...

When deciding an area variance application, a zoning board may consider the proposed use of the property and the purpose in seeking the variance. However, the zoning board cannot fail to account for the five-factor test...more

Town Takes Trailer: Enforcing Zoning Ordinance against Unresponsive Violators

In Town of Brookhaven v Golemi, 2019 NY Slip Op 51477(U) [Sup Ct, Suffolk County 2019], the Town of Brookhaven (“Brookhaven”) successfully sought and obtained injunctive relief to remove a structure that violated Brookhaven’s...more

Village’s Vitiation of Riparian Rights Survives Initial Challenge

In Akeson v Inc. Vil. of Asharoken, 2019 NY Slip Op 32756(U), Index No. 57/2018 (Sup Ct, Suffolk County 2019), the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Incorporated Village of Asharoken’s (“Asharoken”) decisions...more

Getting Lost in the “Open Space” of New York City’s Superblocks

In Peyton v. New York City Bd. of Standards and Appeals, (2018 N.Y. 06870, 166 A.D.3d 120 (1st Dept 2018), Petitioners-community residents (“Petitioners”) commenced a proceeding to challenge the City of New York (“City”)...more

Commercial Development around a Residential Parcel Supports Hardship Element for Use Variance

A use variance is arguably one of the most difficult zoning approvals to obtain and is rarely granted. Petitioners in 54 Marion Ave., LLC v. City of Saratoga Springs, 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 04611, 162 A.D.3d 1341 (3d Dep’t...more

The Domain of Interpreting Zoning Ordinance: “Resort” to the Zoning Board of Appeals

In opposing Crossroad Ventures, LLC’s (“Crossroad Ventures“) endeavor to construct a vacation resort partially within the Town of Shandaken, (“Town“), grassroots preservation organization Catskill Heritage Alliance, Inc....more

Failure to Refer Area Variance Application to County Planning Agency Poses Jurisdictional Defect and Nullifies Approvals

In Fichera, et al. v. New York State Dep’t of Envt’l Conserv., et al., decided last month, Petitioners commenced an Article 78 proceeding seeking to void actions taken and determinations made by the New York State Department...more

Comfort Stations May Be Permitted Uses of Public Streets

After Hurricane Sandy devastated Long Beach and its boardwalk in 2012, officials sought to reconstruct the city’s iconic esplanade. As part of the rebuild, the Long Beach City Council determined to award contracts for the...more

SEQRA Permits Lead Agency To Remove Conditions from Conditional Declarations

Petitioners, residents and nearby occupants (“Petitioners”), commenced a hybrid Article 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action against the Planning Board of the Village of Tuckahoe (“Board”) and others in Murphy v....more

Preservation by Law May Become Par for the Course-Brookhaven Town Rezones Golf Courses

The Town of Brookhaven has engaged in efforts to preserve Long Island’s links and, last month, took the first steps towards fulfilling its endeavor. On March 2, 2017, the Brookhaven Town Board unanimously adopted two...more

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